This invention relates to a high efficiency triple pass tunnel finisher with an articulated spraying function. Tunnel finishers are used to remove wrinkles, which are set into garments during the laundry process. In many cases, they are also used to dry and remove wrinkles from the garments after laundering.
Conventional tunnel finishers are commonly referred to as a “straight-through” or “U-turn” tunnel finisher based on their shape. In a “straight-through” finisher, damp garments on a hanger enter one end, and pass in a straight line through the finisher, exiting on the other end. In a “U-turn” finisher, damp garments on a hanger enter and exit on the same end of the finisher, making a U-turn at the opposite end.
A tunnel finisher finishes a garment by subjecting the garment to a steaming zone and a hot air zone. In the steaming zone, a garment is conditioned with live steam injection before it proceeds to the hot air zone. In the hot air zone, the garment is heated and agitated with hot air to evaporate moisture from the garment. This process causes the fibers in the garment to return to their natural, relaxed, wrinkle free condition.
The efficiency of a tunnel finisher and the quality of the appearance of the garment after processing is dependent on the dwell time of the garment inside the machine. The garment must remain in the finisher for a length of time sufficient to permit the temperature of the garment to be raised to a predetermined optimum temperature, typically 280° F., well above the evaporation point of water, so that the remaining moisture in the garment is evaporated. In conventional garment finishers, the temperature of the garments typically reach about 160° F. in the steam chamber, and then the temperature must be raised in a subsequent chamber to the desired temperature of about 280° F. In conventional garment finishers, cooler air from outside the finisher is typically drafted into the steam chamber, and the cooler air of the steam chamber is drafted into the subsequent finishing chamber. This has the undesirable effect of lowering the temperature in the steam chamber and finishing chamber, resulting in less efficiency as the finishing chamber must expend more energy to reach the desired optimum temperature, and more time is required for the garments to have the necessary dwell time at the optimum temperature in the finisher.
Some conventional tunnel finishers include all of the functioning elements necessary for the operation of the finisher in a single cabinet. As such, laundries need to purchase a finisher with a capacity large enough to handle present production levels as well as production increases over a long period of time. Most tunnel finishers are manufactured in such a manner that when production levels increase, a new finisher must be purchased. Other tunnel finishers can be expanded by adding modules, however, the expansion modules must include blowers, burners, gas trains, flame-control systems and other relatively expensive features of the finisher.